The Daily Free Press created a timeline to document its ongoing coverage of Boston University’s enforcement of its signage policy , which regulates what can be displayed on outward-facing University property.
The policy states that individuals can only post signs, posters or fliers on authorized bulletin boards, and not on walls, windows or doors, according to BU’s Publications & Publicity Policy .
The policy’s enforcement has led to the recent removal of pride flags and political messages from office windows — drawing scrutiny and prompting protest from faculty, students and advocacy organizations.
September 17, 2024 - Gilliam announces updates to University signage policy
BU President Melissa Gilliam announced updates to the Events and Demonstrations Policy in a letter addressed to the University community.
The update altered a student-specific policy on signage to apply on a University-wide scale.
“Our policy acknowledges that members of the University community must be able to express themselves and that this is crucial to our educational mission, but it sets forth time, place, and manner guidelines to ensure that expressive activities do not unreasonably interfere with or disrupt University operations,” Gilliam wrote.
March 17, 2025 - Professor’s ‘Free Mahmoud’ signage removed from office window
Nathan Phillips, a professor in the BU Department of Earth and Environment, on March 13, 2025 replaced a prior protest sign with a new message: “Free Mahmoud,” in support of a detained Columbia University graduate. Mahmoud Khalil was detained by federal immigration agents on March 8, 2025 for his involvement in pro-Palestine protests.
When Phillips returned to his locked office on March 17, he said the “Free Mahmoud” signage had been removed from his window.
March 19, 2025 - Gilliam says she maintains University’s dedication to free expression
BU President Melissa Gilliam sent an email to faculty and staff addressing concerns affecting BU and universities across the country, including free speech.
“I want to reaffirm that our commitment to free expression is unwavering,” Gilliam wrote . “Since our inception, we have been steadfast in our commitment to the importance of free speech, and this commitment will continue to guide us.”
April 15, 2025 - Professor begins hunger strike after signage removed from office window
Phillips began a zero calorie hunger strike April 15 after signage reading “Free Rumeysa” was removed from his office window for the second time .
“I’m offering this sacrifice as an expression of love and solidarity with Mahmoud Khalil, Rümeysa Öztürk and Mohsen Mahdawi, and other community members even at BU who have had their right to freedom of speech, freedom of movement, due process and to be treated with humanity and decency, removed from them,” Phillips said.
The hunger strike lasted 17 days, Phillips said.
September 2025 - Faculty counter University instructions to remove public-facing pride flags
BU’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors informed faculty in an email that the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program and the University’s Children’s Center received directives to remove the pride flags hanging in their offices.
WGS Program Director Susanne Sreedhar said she received an email request on Aug. 19, 2025 to move a pride flag, which was positioned in the window of the department’s sitting room, to an “interior wall.”
The request, from the CAS planning and operations department, said the flag violated signage rules listed in BU’s Events and Demonstrations Policy, said BU AAUP Co-President Mary Battenfeld.
December 4, 2025 - Professors rally outside Gilliam's office in protest of pride flag takedown request
Several Boston University professors rallied outside One Silber Way, where Gilliam's office is, on Dec. 4 in protest of the University's request for a faculty member to take down a pride flag from their office window.
The flag — not visible during the protest — had previously hung in an office window at the Wheelock College of Education and Human Development, across from One Silber Way. The request for it to be taken down was given Dec. 3, a day before the University’s Board of Trustees met on campus, according to AAUP Chapter Co-President Mary Battenfeld.
“We are not happy with the way the University has been seen running and hiding in a hole regarding responses to the Trump administration’s hate directed at our community,” Battenfeld said. “They should not be taking down pride flags. They should be letting our students know they do not give up.”
The protesters also called for increased transparency between the community and University administration and the Board of Trustees, specifically about the University's budget.
March 17, 2026 - Faculty resist signage policy enforcement
Faculty spoke out against BU’s signage policy after several public-facing pride flags in office windows were removed over spring break.
BU’s administration removed pride flags on display at three locations:
The Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies offices at 704 Commonwealth Ave. Liz Bettini’s Wheelock College office at 2 Silber Way Nathan Phillips’ office at 675 Comm. Ave.
March 24, 2026 - Gilliam, administration address community’s signage concerns
BU officials responded to concerns about the removal of outward-facing signage on campus, including pride flags, in a BU Today article published March 24.
The article stated that BU administrators, including Gilliam and Senior Vice President for Operations Derek Howe, addressed faculty questions during meetings on March 18 and 19.
“The University does not permit members of the community to post signs, placards, banners, or similar materials on outward-facing University property, which includes walls, windows, and doors. BU takes a content-neutral, consistent approach to enforcing this policy,” the article states.
The article noted that the policy is not about pride flags and applies to all outward-facing signage regardless of viewpoint.
Officials said the policy has been in place since 1982, but the University has been working to enforce it more consistently since last spring.
March 25, 2026 - Professor publishes op-ed imploring administration to ‘stop removing flags’
Dr. Jennifer Snyder-Cappione, an assistant professor at BU Chobanian & Avedisian School Of Medicine, published an op-ed in The Daily Free Press calling on the administration to cease its removal of pride flags.
Snyder-Cappione is also the founder of Terrier Courage , a coalition of BU-affiliated individuals devoted to championing free speech.
“BU was founded by and has graduated courageous people willing to take public moral stances in difficult moments, not avoid them. A BU administration faithful to its history and mission should be expanding space for visible disagreement — not restricting it,” Snyder-Cappione wrote.
March 26, 2026 - Several pride flags appear in new locations across campus
Five signs bearing the words “There might have been a flag here” can be seen hanging in the windows at the Wheelock College’s Earl Center for Learning & Innovation at 55 Pilgrim Rd.
“Our hope is that with this public provocation people will deeply consider the issues swirling around representation, academic freedom, freedom of speech, human rights, diversity, dignity, social justice, and more,” wrote Earl Center Director Beth Warren and Manager Lynn Brown in a statement to The Daily Free Press.
The same day, College of Arts and Sciences lecturers Carrie Bennett and Courtney Pina Miller hung up six pride flags in the windows of the CAS Writing Center, located on the third floor of the Yawkey building. Miller said these flags were put up in direct response to the removals.
As of March 31, neither the CAS Writing Center nor the Earl Center have received notice of removal from BU officials.
BU Spokesperson Rachel Lapal Cavallario wrote in a statement to The Daily Free Press that “the suggestion that the University is singling out the Pride flag with this policy is untrue.”
March 28, 2026 - Alum behind 1986 free speech win urges BU to cease pride flag removals in letter
Yosef Abramowitz, a Boston University alum who secured a landmark free speech victory for students in the 1980s, sent a letter to University leadership this week urging it to reconsider its removal of outward-facing pride flags across campus.
Abramowitz wrote in the letter that he is "surprised” BU’s leadership has stripped pride flags from windows in recent weeks, adding that “we settled that question 40 years ago.”
“You conveniently have the luxury of being able to hide behind the Abramowitz ‘banner’ ruling from 40 years ago, with which Boston University should be proud to be associated,” Abramowitz wrote in the letter.
The ruling drew from the Massachusetts Civil Rights Act, which extends First Amendment protections to private as well as public actors.
March 30, 2026 - AAUP publishes op-eds addressing censorship, free speech suppression at BU
The BU Chapter of the American Association of University Professors published multiple op-eds in The Daily Free Press in a multi-part series documenting the suppression of free speech at BU.
The AAUP is an organization dedicated to protecting academic freedom and pushing back against attacks on higher education in the United States.
March 31, 2026 - First Amendment advocacy group sends letter to Gilliam to halt pride flag removal
A First Amendment legal advocacy group sent a letter to Gilliam, calling on BU “to immediately cease ordering faculty to remove flags from their office windows.”
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, or FIRE, wrote in its letter that “Political speech, including political flags like the ones displayed by professors, is at the core of freedom of expression.”
FIRE requested a response from Gilliam by April 14 “affirming that BU will cease its removal of faculty expressive flags and commit to enforcing its time, place, and manner policies in a reasonable manner.”
April 2, 2026 - Professors rally outside Gilliam’s office, present petition to revise policy
Several professors and BU-affiliated individuals held a rally outside Gilliam’s office at 1 Silber Way in protest of the University’s signage policy enforcement.
During the rally, organizers successfully delivered a petition — with more than 2,200 signatures as of Monday — to Christine Wynn, Gilliam’s chief of staff, calling on BU to revise its signage policy. Wynn left the lobby after receiving the petition, saying, “This is a great conversation and I thank you, and we’ll be in touch.”
“It is clear to us, at this point, that the University administration’s gaze is fixed firmly on Washington and not right here on campus,” said Raul Fernandez , a senior lecturer at BU’s Wheelock College of Education and Human Development. “Part of this effort is to bring them right here, back home, and to understand the implications of what they’ve been doing.”
April 6, 2026 - BU temporarily halts enforcement of outward-facing signage policy
Gilliam announced Monday that she is “temporarily pausing” a University policy enforcing the removal of outward-facing signs.
“Our University and our policies exist within a larger social context—one that is dynamic and complex,” Gilliam wrote. “In the public conversation about Boston University’s time, place, and manner policies, that spotlight has fallen disproportionately on our LGBTQIA+ community, and I have heard how difficult and painful that has been. I am deeply sorry.”
Graham Piro, a legal fellow for FIRE, wrote in a statement to The Daily Free Press that the organization is “pleased that BU has halted its takedown of faculty flags.”
“On college campuses, flags often serve as a visible and accessible way for students and faculty to express their identities and viewpoints,” Piro wrote. “We urge the university to continue to allow faculty and students to express themselves — no matter what flag they fly.”
This timeline will be updated as The Daily Free Press continues reporting on BU’s signage policy and the response.
ANNE DONOHUE • Apr 10, 2026 at 10:00 am
A step in the right direction. LET’S HOPE IT IS A PERMANENT RETREAT FROM CENSORSHIP.